Owner(s)

Thomas is a cheeky blue tank engine who works on the North Western Railway. He originally worked as the station pilot at the Big Station, but longed to leave his yard to go out and see the world. After helping to rescue James from a nasty accident, Thomas was rewarded with two new coaches, Annie and Clarabel and was given the responsibility of running the Ffarquhar Branch Line, where he continues to work to this day, but occasionally leaves Sodor to work on foreign railways.

Contents

Biography

The Railway Series

Details of Thomas' arrival on the North Western Railway in 1915 are more or less undocumented and it is unknown how exactly he showed up. The most popular theory put forward, however, is that he was sent to Sodor in a wartime mix-up.[1] His driver and fireman got along well with the local people and married Sudrian girls and by 1920 neither one wanted to leave the Island or their beloved engine.

On inquiry, Topham Hatt found out that the LB&SCR had written off Thomas as being "lost on war service." Rather than face complications resulting from a change in their books, the LB&SCR quietly sold Thomas to the North Western Railway for a "nominal sum."[2]

Thomas originally worked as the station pilot at Vicarstown, shunting trains for the bigger engines on the main line to take out. He enjoyed teasing the other engines, Gordon most of all and would quietly sneak up on him and whistle loudly as he dozed on a siding. However, one morning, Gordon managed to get back at Thomas by pulling out of the station before he could be uncoupled from his coaches, dragging him down the line at tremendous speeds. Thomas vowed to never tease Gordon again, but made him change. Perhaps as a result of his brief excursion beyond his boundaries, Thomas longed to see more of the world and become a part of it and became jealous of the bigger engines for having the chance to pull trains.

When Henry fell ill one morning, Thomas was allowed to take his morning passenger train when there were no other engines available, much to his delight. However, for reasons unknown, Thomas left the station before he could be coupled to his train, leaving behind the coaches, the passengers and their luggage. Thomas was not aware of his mistake, until he was stopped by a signalman who asked where his train was. Ashamed and humiliated, Thomas returned to the station, this time waiting to be coupled to his coaches, but the incident had made him a laughing stock among the bigger engines.

Thomas continued to grumble to the other engines, though they took no notice of him. However, Edward felt sorry for him and allowed him to take his goods train to Wellsworth while he handled his shunting duties in the yard. Although Edward warned him to be careful around the trucks, Thomas took no notice and bumped the trucks as he started. When they reached Gordon's Hill, the trucks pushed him down the line, causing him to lose control. Thomas raced through Maron station and came to a stop, where he was confronted by the Fat Controller. Sometime after this, Thomas was relocated to Wellsworth to learn more about handling trucks.

Thomas was present in the yard when James ran out of control with his trucks and derailed in a field outside the station. Thomas fetched the Breakdown Train and rushed to James' aid and he helped to clean up the broken trucks and bring James back to the shed when he was re-railed. As a reward for his actions, Thomas was given two new coaches, Annie and Clarabel and was given the responsibility of running the Ffarquhar Branch Line, much to his delight.[3]

Thomas on his branch line

Thomas loved his branch line dearly and had many adventures during his first days on the line. He once left his guard behind by accident and on another occasion he accidentally swallowed a fish in his tank when he took on water from the lake, causing him tremendous pain. During the autumn season, Thomas met Terence and teased him for his caterpillar tracks, though he later came to regret this after he became stuck in the snow and had to be pulled out by him. Thomas later met Bertie and was challenged to a race to Ffarquhar. Although he was behind for most of the race, Thomas managed to overtake Bertie and won.[4]

After a compliment by his driver went to his smokebox, Thomas became conceited, believing that he no longer needed his driver to control him. The next morning, Thomas found himself moving on his own after a careless cleaner had meddled with his controls, but he was unable to stop and crashed into the Ffarquhar stationmaster's house. Thomas was sent to the Works to be mended and received some changes to his design, including a new footplate that was now level from smokebox to bunker. When Thomas returned to the branch line, he began looking after the passenger trains with Daisy.[5]

In 1990, Thomas was invited by the National Railway Museum to represent the North Western Railway in the Great Railway Show, an event showcasing many famous engines across the UK. Thomas was excited, but the journey to York was shaky; he damaged his front bufferbeam when he hit a crossing gate and the lorry he was travelling on was booked for parking illegally. Thomas was repaired when he arrived at the Museum and befriended Green Arrow while he was being mended, though he continued to have bad luck when he ran into a bag thrown onto the line and frightened a small child. Fortunately, Thomas managed to make up for his bad luck when, as he was double-heading a railtour with Green Arrow, he noticed the line up ahead was damaged and stopped the train. As a reward for his actions, Thomas was made an honorary member of the National Railway Museum and received a commemorative plaque.[6] Afterwards, Thomas left York and returned to Sodor.[7]

Thomas & Friends

Thomas in his original livery

Before coming to Sodor, Thomas lived at Brighton, where he worked alongside several other engines. He was brought to the North Western Railway when the Fat Controller was in need of a new tank engine to shunt trains at Knapford and was originally painted teal-green before receiving his blue livery.

Thomas was cheeky at first and enjoyed teasing Gordon by waking him up while he was resting at Knapford. Gordon managed to get back at Thomas by leaving the station too quickly before he could be uncoupled and though Thomas learned his lesson about teasing Gordon, he wanted to see more of the world and go beyond the yard at Knapford station. He was given the chance to pull his first passenger train when Henry became ill, but left the station too early when he mistook the guard's whistle for Edward's train for his own, leaving behind his coaches and passengers. Thomas was stopped by a signalman and he went back to the station to fetch his train.

Thomas was teased relentlessly about this mistake by the other engines, especially Gordon and James, though Edward felt sorry for him and offered to let Thomas take his goods train while he took care of his shunting duties in the yard. Thomas could hardly contain his excitement and was too excited to listen to Edward's warning about the trucks, believing that he could handle them easily. However, as he reached the top of Gordon's Hill, the trucks began pushing Thomas down the line, causing him to run out of control and nearly crashed until he stopped in a siding at Maron. As punishment for not doing his work in the yard, the Fat Controller made Thomas shunt in the yard only, giving Edward the same punishment as him.

Thomas on his branch line

Upon noticing that Henry had not come out of the sheds to pull his train during a rainy day, Thomas raced back to Tidmouth Sheds and managed to convince a paranoid Henry that the rain would not hurt him, finally helping him get over his fear of the rain. Thomas continued to work in the yard and over time, he became more skilled at shunting. While taking a break in the yard one day, Thomas saw James being pushed by his trucks unable to stop due to his burning brake blocks. Thomas bravely chased after James and tried to stop him, but unfortunately James derailed and landed in a field. Thomas rushed back to Knapford and retrieved Judy and Jerome, who helped him re-rail James. As a reward for his heroic actions, Thomas was rewarded with his own branch line and two coaches of his own, Annie and Clarabel. From that point on, Thomas began proudly working on his branch line.[8]

Personality

Thomas is described as being a cheeky, fussy engine. He often gets into scrapes, usually by being over eager to do things best left to bigger and more sensible engines. But clouds never last long in Thomas' life and he is soon bustling about again, playing his part in the yard and on his very own branch line, of which he is extremely proud.

He loves teasing the others, especially the bigger engines, such as Gordon and on occasion brags about his superiority, but is always brought down to earth in due course by anyone willing to correct him, especially the Fat Controller and his two coaches, Annie and Clarabel. If Thomas has one major character flaw, it is that he is forgetful and rather impatient. However, he is also optimistic, idealistic and altruistic with a heart of gold.

A friend to all engines and a popular member of the Fat Controller’s Railway, Thomas is No.1 and does his best every day to live up to that through helping his friends and those that he cares about. He lives to be a Really Useful Engine and encourages everyone else to do the same. He likes to be better than James and Bertie in races. He can, however, also get annoyed about being useful such as the time when Rosie followed him around because she idolised him so much.

Despite all this, he does have his pride, and will sometimes take wrong advice at the wrong time - such as from Ace or Sailor John, as well as refusing help even when he needs it.

Technical Details

Basis

Thomas is based on the LB&SCR Class E2 0-6-0T, particularly the second batch of locomotives built with extended side-tanks. These engines were built by Brighton Works between 1913-1916 to replace the ageing Stroudley E1 class and were primarily used for heavy shunting and short-distance goods trains in the London area and on the south coast. During their final working years, the E2 class worked as shunting engines at Southampton Docks alongside the USATC S100 Tank Engines (Rosie's basis), until they were replaced by the BR Class 07 diesel shunters (Salty's basis). All of the E2s were scrapped, with none surviving into preservation.

Thomas has several major differences from the original E2 class. He is much shorter in length than his original basis, he has two extra windows on the sides of his cab and he has wheel splashers, something the E2 class lacked. In early volumes of The Railway Series and the television series, Thomas' footplate is dipped at the front, but oddly enough is not dipped at the back. In Branch Line Engines, his footplate was levelled out from smokebox to bunker.

Thomas' basis

Livery

Thomas is painted in NWR sky blue with red lining. His number is painted on the sides of his tanks in yellow with red lining and the lining around his cab windows is yellow.

In The Adventure Begins, Thomas was originally painted teal-green with white lining. He had the initials "LBSC" and the number 70 painted on the sides of his tanks and cab respectively in yellow with red lining and his wheel rims were painted white.

In the first three seasons of the television series, Thomas had red lining on the back of his coal bunker, but during production of the third season episode, All at Sea, the lining was removed. The lining was later re-added to him in The Adventure Begins.

Audio Files

Trivia

Thomas was the first character in the Railway Series to have a number. According to Brian Sibley, Awdry used the number one because it was the easiest to draw.

Thomas was the first character introduced in the television series.

Christopher Awdry lost the original Thomas toy when he was in the United States. However, it was recreated in 2015 for a 70th anniversary sizzle. The second version of the original toy was made as a thank you gift by Michael White.

Thomas' LBSC number, 70, was actually carried by a real LB&SCR locomotive, an A1 named "Poplar" currently preserved by the Kent & East Sussex Railway. The number also represents the 70th anniversary of the Railway Series.

According to Sir Topham Hatt on the 2001 Official Website, Thomas was given his name by the engine workshop which built him.

Thomas is one of the few characters to appear and speak in every season and special.

A Wooden Railway toy of Thomas along with one of Stepney's appeared in the second season of The Big Bang Theory in the thirteenth episode, The Friendship Algorithm.

An Ertl toy of Thomas along with one of James' also appeared in the sixth season of Full House in the fifteenth episode, Be True to Your Preschool.

Thomas went through several aesthetic changes in the television series:

Season 1:

He had a real looking brake pipe, which was tilted down so that it didn't touch the face.

He shared the footsteps design with Percy.

Season 2:

He gained a smaller brake pipe on both front and back.

The blue supports under his whistle became gold.

Season 3:

His footsteps got smaller.

After Trust Thomas, the lining on the back of his bunker was removed.

He gains a buck tooth on his shocked face.

Thomas and the Magic Railroad:

He slightly increased in size

His wheels became bigger.

His eyebrows became thicker.

The gold supports under his whistle became blue again.

His front windows became the same height as his back windows.

The buck tooth on his shocked face disappears for the rest of the model era.

Jack and the Sodor Construction Company (large scale model only):

His lamp becomes bigger.

His brake pipe and buffers are bigger.

There is a hole on the left side of his running board.

His funnel is larger.

The resin faces used in the sixth season were modified.

Season 7:

His wheels go back to their original size.

Season 11:

His whistle was lowered closer to the boiler.

Hero of the Rails:

His cab is open.

He goes back to his original size.

His number 1 became slightly smaller, and the red lining becomes thicker.